University of Pennsylvania law professor David Skeel says Toyota isn’t the first company to bend to government demands for hefty monetary settlements. Photo credit: Associated Press.

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... I ... I ... the opinion Journal why Mary Kissel ... the Justice Department announced a one point two billion dollars settlement ... with Toyota in these last hours for all my son one acceleration of Toyota's cars yet another branch of government ... says there's nothing wrong with these cars ... how can that be why is tired of paying up at the University of Pennsylvania law professor David Steel joining me now ... I didn't ... want to show you a news story that appeared this morning in the Wall Street Journal about the settlement ... and it says and I quote ... the NHTSA ... how clever never found flaws in the electronic throttle control or control software of the cars in question ... and determined operator error or floor mats trapping Excel or eater pedals were involved in most accidents ... didn't ... why would this company or any company pay one point two billion dollars for something that was in its fall ... I hate the conclusion they reached is they're gonna pay now or that a day later it they dig in their heels and by this chart was which seems to be growl last ... the government to continue to come after them so I think they're making the same decision a number of other ... firms that may most recently JPMorgan with a thirteen billion dollars over that they made a similar ... position ... we can either agree with the government pay and maybe this will go away when the government just keep coming after Senate this sounds like a shakedown is this something that started ... with the financial crisis and afterwards or is this something has been going on for years and we just didn't pay much attention to it ... well this isn't the first high-end in American history we've seen this kind of day ... aided by government seems to increase during the crisis it definitely our increase starting in two thousand and eight in a good number of the bailouts the government did things that ... the ... flagrantly violated the rule of law ... what is unusual to me about this situation in some other what's right now is usually we see the more adherence to the rule of law after prices starts to recede of what seems to be going on now is the government is continuing to do the kinds of things it did during the height of the crisis so briefly knew it was a couple specific examples ... of this kind of an end its modern word shakedown or extortion of private companies ... so ... you wanna focus on the shakedown that ... aspect of that will talk about their star earned or get GPT to put a I G in that category what the government that with AIG ... but he is the word shakedown I think more of the mortgage so that the euro so go where other big banks agreed to pay about twenty five twenty six billion dollars ... the causes of the so-called robo signing of of mortgage documents ... this ... had very little to do with the allegations but that the company's top line ... of day they haven't had it so that's an example of that I think I think this is an example of the Adams ... even if we if we move beyond ... shakedown with the government is is clearly trying to get money out of firms that I'm happy with her ... we have other kinds of violations of the rule of law swell ... it's the it's it's scary to see ... and slanted payable to shareholders in this instance are the ones ... that it paid for it ... I hear see passing a law professor David Steel thank you so much for joining us ... thank you ... more to come on opinion Journal states and ...